Researchers tracked the cumulative divisional history of slow-cycling hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) throughout adult life. This revealed a fraction of rarely dividing HSCs that contained all the long-term HSC activity within the aging HSC compartment. [Cell]
Abstract | Graphical Abstract

The authors tested both indirect and direct coculture strategies, and found that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) protected T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells from chemotherapeutic cell death and cytotoxicity under both culture conditions. In addition, cell viability was higher in the direct contact system compared with the Transwell system. [Cell Death Dis]
Full Article

Researchers showed that Reed–Sternberg (RS) cells have characteristics of senescent cells; RS cells in Hodgkin’s Lymphoma biopsies specifically expressed the senescence markers and cell cycle inhibitors p21Cip1 and p16INK4a and were negative for the proliferation marker Ki-67, suggesting that these cells have ceased to proliferate. [Cell Death Dis]
Full Article

CLINICAL RESEARCH

Investigators included 205 newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia patients, including 180 patients with CBFα and 25 patients with CBFβ leukemia, to investigate the potential role of additional mutations beyond AML1-ETO and CBF-MYH11 in these diseases. [Blood Cancer J]
Full Article

As the graft-versus-tumor (GvT) effect of donor lymphocyte infusions (DLI) depends on the presence of host-dendritic cells (DCs), researchers tested in a Phase I/II trial whether the efficacy of DLI could be improved by simultaneous vaccination with host-DCs. They also analyzed the possibility of further improving the GvT effect by loading the DCs with peptides of mismatched hematopoietic cell-specific minor histocompatibility antigens. [Bone Marrow Transplant]
Abstract

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a clonal disease that arises from the expansion of mutated hematopoietic stem cells. In a spectrum of myeloid disorders ranging from clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential to secondary acute myeloid leukemia, MDS is distinguished by the presence of peripheral blood cytopenias, dysplastic hematopoietic differentiation and the absence of features that define acute leukemia. [Nat Rev Cancer]
Abstract

Visit our
reviews
page to see a complete list of reviews in
the hematopoiesis research field.

Seattle Genetics, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to ADCETRIS for the treatment of patients with CD30-expressing mycosis fungoides (MF) and primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (pcALCL) who require systemic therapy and have received one prior systemic therapy. MF and pcALCL are the most common subtypes of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, accounting for more than 75 percent of the disease. [Seattle Genetics, Inc.]
Press Release

ERYTECH Pharma announced its decision to withdraw the current Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for GRASPA for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The company determined that the time allowed in the Committee for Human Medicinal Products procedure was not sufficient to provide the additional data requested in the CHMP’s Day 180 List of Outstanding Issues. The company intends to resubmit an MAA around mid-2017. [ERYTECH Pharma]
Press Release

Novartis announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review to the PKC412 new drug application for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in newly-diagnosed adults with an FMS-like tyrosine kinase-3 (FLT3) mutation, as well as for the treatment of advanced systemic mastocytosis. [Novartis]
Press Release

Imago BioSciences announced that the first patients have been dosed in a Phase I/II clinical trial of IMG-7289 for the treatment of high-risk acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome. This study will assess the safety, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and anti-neoplastic activity of IMG- 7289, an inhibitor of the epigenetic enzyme lysine-specific demethylase 1. [Imago BioSciences]
Press Release

Amgen announced a collaboration with Janssen Biotech, Inc. to evaluate the combination of Amgen’s KYPROLIS® and Janssen’s DARZALEX® in multiple clinical studies in patients with multiple myeloma. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies may elect to supply drug only or supply drug and share development costs on a study-by-study basis. [Amgen]
Press Release

The long campaign for the White House is over — but incoming US president Donald Trump’s work is just starting. With just two months before his inauguration on 20 January, he and his staff are busy vetting candidates for top government jobs and clarifying the agenda for his first few months in office. [Nature News]
Editorial

Of all the materials valued in biomedical research, embryonic stem (ES) cells and fetal tissue have gotten disproportionate attention from politicians. Because creating ES cell lines initially requires destroying a human embryo, President George W. Bush tightly restricted the use of federal funds for research on all but a few stem cell lines. President Barack Obama then made lifting those restrictions one of his first official actions after he took office in 2009. [Science Insider]
Editorial